Andrew "Andy" Wood (born 1977) is an American comedian and a founder/producer of Portland's Bridgetown Comedy Festival. He is a native of Ann Arbor, Michigan currently residing in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Standup comedy

Wood has performed at the Bumbershoot Arts Festival, the

Seattle International Comedy Competition The Seattle International Comedy Competition is a month-long stand-up comedy competition held at various venues throughout Washington State. It has been held every year since 1980 until 2020, when the competition was not run due to pandemic restric ...

, the Portland Amateur Comedy Competition,

SF Sketchfest SF Sketchfest, or The San Francisco Comedy Festival, is an American comedy festival founded in 2002 by Bay Area actor-comedians David Owen, Janet Varney and Cole Stratton. It takes place every January and February in a variety of Bay Area venues a ...

and the

Bentzen Ball The Bentzen Ball is a comedy festival held in Washington, D.C., first in 2009, and then in 2013. It is produced by the D.C.-based online magazine and event company ''Brightest Young Things'' (often abbreviated as BYT) and curated by Tig Notaro. ...

. He has performed with comedy acts such as

Patton Oswalt Patton Peter Oswalt (born January 27, 1969) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and writer. He is known as Spence Olchin in the sitcom ''The King of Queens'' (1998–2007) and for narrating the sitcom '' The Goldbergs'' (2013–present) as ...

Todd Glass Todd Steven Glass (born December 16, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian. Life and career Glass was born and raised in the suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He first began performing stand-up comedy in Philadelphia in 1982 while attendi ...

Doug Benson Douglas Steven Benson (born July 2, 1962) is an American comedian, marijuana rights advocate, television host and actor, best known for hosting the podcasts and TV series ''Doug Loves Movies'' (2006-present), ''The Benson Interruption'' (2010-20 ...

and

Janeane Garofalo Janeane Marie Garofalo ( ; born September 28, 1964) is an American comedian, actress, and former co-host on the now-defunct Air America Radio's ''The Majority Report''. Garofalo began her career as a stand-up comedian and became a cast member on ...

. He graduated from

Huron High School (Ann Arbor, Michigan) Ann Arbor Huron High School, or Huron High School (HHS), is a public high school located in Ann Arbor, MI, in the U.S. The school is part of the Ann Arbor Public Schools district. Located at 2727 Fuller Road in eastern Ann Arbor near the banks ...

in 1995 and took his degree in Electrical Engineering at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

in 1999. Before he became a comedian, Wood was an engineer at Pixelworks.

Probably Science

Wood is one of the hosts of the popular podcast Probably Science where he and other comedians talk about science news stories. While Andy Wood does have a background in science, the podcast is meant for humor and entertainment and is not intended to provide accurate scientific information. He affectionately refers to the show as "Your week in half-assed science."

Producer, The Bridgetown Comedy Festival

As tri-founder of the Festival, Wood is responsible in part for "the fastest-growing comedy extravaganza in America." Successively larger and better-planned comedy festivals prompted one reviewer to comment, ". . . as usual, organizer Andy Wood and his royal army of geniuses outdid themselves. How can you make something already great even better? I'm not sure, but it happened." In late 2009, the ''Portland Mercury'' reviewed the festival, stating that, "Bridgetown (or should we say, Andy Wood) is changing Portland comedy" and the following year, the ''Portland Monthly'' stated that Wood "deserves several rounds of applause for making the fest happen . . . ." In his work as a comedy promoter, Andy Wood created a venue where the comedy market was struggling, and has promoted the venue to as a regional and national event. Part of Wood's approach in creating 'draw' to a weak comedy market was to couple art with philanthropy.

Short history of the Bridgetown Comedy Festival

2008

In October 2007, comedians Andy Wood and

Matt Braunger Matthew Braunger (born August 1, 1974) is an American actor, writer, and stand-up comedian. His most recent special ''Finally Live In Portland'' was launched by Comedy Dynamics in 2019. Outside of performing stand-up, Braunger is noted for bein ...

and comedy fan Kim Brady created a comedy festival based in Portland, Oregon with Patton Oswalt as the first headliner. Bridgetown hospitality coordinator Jen Lane joined the effort, suggesting Portland's Hawthorne district as the site. In addition to Oswalt, the 2008 Festival featured

Tig Notaro Mathilde O'Callaghan "Tig" Notaro (born March 24, 1971) is an American stand-up comedian, writer, radio contributor, and actress. She is known for her deadpan comedy. Her acclaimed album ''Live'' was nominated in 2014 for the Grammy Award for Be ...

(comedian,

The Sarah Silverman Program ''The Sarah Silverman Program'' is an American television sitcom, which ran from February 1, 2007, to April 15, 2010, on Comedy Central starring comedian and actress Sarah Silverman, who created the series with Dan Harmon and Rob Schrab. ''The Sa ...

);

(founder and Portland native); Morgan Murphy (writer, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon);

Natasha Leggero Natasha Leggero () (born March 26, 1974) is an American comedian, actress and writer. She rose to fame after appearing as the host of the MTV reality television series '' The 70s House'' in 2005, and as a regular roundtable panelist on Chelsea Ha ...

(comedian,

Reno 911! ''Reno 911!'' is an American comedy television series airing on Comedy Central. It is a mockumentary-style parody of law enforcement documentary shows, specifically '' Cops'', with comic actors playing the police officers. Thomas Lennon, Ro ...

); and Chris Fairbanks (comedian,

Fuel TV Fox Sports 2 (FS2) is an American sports-oriented pay television channel owned by the Fox Sports Media Group, a unit of Fox Corporation. The channel is based at the Fox Sports division's headquarters on the Fox Studio Lot in the Century C ...

). The 2008 Festival garnered some sixty performers.

2009

The 2009 Bridgetown Comedy Festival was headlined by

(

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...

and

The Larry Sanders Show ''The Larry Sanders Show'' is an American television sitcom set in the office and studio of a fictional late-night talk show. The series was created by Garry Shandling and Dennis Klein and aired from August 15, 1992, to May 31, 1998, on the HBO ...

alumnus), and featured

Andy Kaufman Andrew Geoffrey Kaufman ( ; January 17, 1949 – May 16, 1984) was an American entertainer and performance artist. While often called a "comedian", Kaufman preferred to describe himself instead as a "song and dance man". He has sometimes b ...

Award-winners Reggie Watts and Brent Weinbach. It added long-form improv and podcasts to the schedule.

2010

The 2010 Festival featured 170 performers at nine venues and featured long-form improv, podcasts by comedian Marc Maron (and stand-up performance) and Jimmy Pardo, and comics including: Maria Bamford, Tim Meadows, Scott Adsit, Tig Notaro, Greg Behrendt, Christian Finnegan, Matt Besser, Matt Walsh, Matt Braunger, Danny Pudi, Steve Agee, T.J. Miller, and Hannibal Buress.

Association

Wood joined the

Phi Kappa Psi Phi Kappa Psi (), commonly known as Phi Psi, is an American collegiate social fraternity that was founded by William Henry Letterman and Charles Page Thomas Moore in Widow Letterman's home on the campus of Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pen ...

fraternity at Cornell University, and through that organization, the Irving Literary Society.Cornell University Residence Plan of 1966, Schedule I, Appendix A (May 3
1966
(''see'' sixth page of document noting the relationship between Phi Kappa Psi and the Irving Literary Society)); ''see also'', List of Phi Kappa Psi/Irving Literary Society Members (Aug. 18
2011
.

References

External links

*
Andy Wood podcast interview on Man School with Caleb Bacon
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Andy 21st-century American comedians 1977 births Cornell University College of Engineering alumni Entertainers from Oregon Living people People from Ann Arbor, Michigan